What are you Smoothifying Now

[tyrion]

Starbucks Iced Coffee cup.

[postjack]

we pretty much never put anything but fruit and veggies in ours, except for a dessert smoothie we make sometimes.

 

Frozen bananas (like 2-3)

Soy milk/milk substitute, 3-4 cups

Some sort of chocolate powder, like hersheys

 

Tastes like a milkshake, which it basically is I guess.

[RudeWolf]

Rum

Bananas

Roasted almonds

Instant coffee

White ice cream

 

Next time I'll try using natural ground coffee. Also I was very surprised how much rum it took before I could taste the alcohol. Feeling the effects however was another thing entirely- be very cautious to not pass out in the sun.

[tyrion]

Made some tortilla soup:

[boomana]

Recipe?

[shellylh]

Picked up a red CIA Vitamix today and BB&B, using the 20% off coupon (and canceled the amazon order).  I guess it is useful to have cashiers who can't read since it clearly prohibits using the coupon for Vitamix products.  

 

Before opening the box, I thought I should try making a green smoothie with my old blender.  It worked ok but it still required chewing the kale a bit (perhaps I didn't purify it long enough).  I also had to tip the blender sideways while blending to get the kale to mix in (perhaps I should put the kale in first instead of last though). 

 

Banana, cherries, nectarine, kale, 1% cow milk. 

 

 

 

I guess I will open up the Vitamix.

[tyrion]

Recipe?

Roughly 2 servings, adjust to taste:

 

1 carrot

1 stalk of salary

chunk of green cabbage

1 tomato

1 garlic clove

slice of onion

2 1/2 cups chicken broth 

1/2 tbsp taco seasoning (I use chili powder)

 

For texture (put on 2 and pulse for a few seconds):

handful of spinach

tortilla chips

 

It will come out hot and ready to eat.

[postjack]

Roughly 2 servings, adjust to taste:

 

1 carrot

1 stalk of salary

chunk of green cabbage

1 tomato

1 garlic clove

slice of onion

2 1/2 cups chicken broth 

1/2 tbsp taco seasoning (I use chili powder)

 

For texture (put on 2 and pulse for a few seconds):

handful of spinach

tortilla chips

 

It will come out hot and ready to eat.

 

looks great, will use this. thanks for sharing.

[Dusty Chalk]

Ooh, BB&B ([craig kilbourn voice]for your bedroom, your bathroom, and your beyondroom..[/voice]) has them?  Might have to do that, I kind of wanted the red one, too.

[shellylh]

How difficult is it to clean the Vitamix after making a smoothie with peanut butter in it?  I have read some complaints about peanut butter sticking to the bottom and sides but maybe that was only when making peanut butter.  

 

Also, have you ever had to take apart the blade assembly to properly clean the vitamix?  I notice, in the manual, it says to take apart the blade assembly "if any solid residue remains" after cleaning.  But then, it also says to only remove the blade assembly if absolutely necessary.  So I am guessing this is something I probably won't have to do (I am hoping to not have to take it apart to clean ever).  

[postjack]

How difficult is it to clean the Vitamix after making a smoothie with peanut butter in it?  I have read some complaints about peanut butter sticking to the bottom and sides but maybe that was only when making peanut butter.  

 

Also, have you ever had to take apart the blade assembly to properly clean the vitamix?  I notice, in the manual, it says to take apart the blade assembly "if any solid residue remains" after cleaning.  But then, it also says to only remove the blade assembly if absolutely necessary.  So I am guessing this is something I probably won't have to do (I am hoping to not have to take it apart to clean ever).  

 

Never used peanut butter in mine so I can't vouch for that.

 

I've never had to remove the blade assembly. 95% of the time we just put in 4 cups of water, a few drops of dish liquid, and ramp it up to high and let it run for a while, then rinse. Every now and again we give it a good scrub with a sponge. After almost two years of ownership and almost daily uses, this has been enough.

[boomana]

^ I clean it the same way as postjack, and I've never used peanut butter.  

[MexicanDragon]

I remember putting ice in the garbage disposal when we had one growing up to kind of "clean it out." I would imagine small chunks/slivers of ice would be able to scrape off some of the remaining residue (perhaps along with some dish soap), then wash normally.

Or maybe it wouldn't, but I'm interested to know what would work, for some reason.

**BRENT**

[postjack]

TOO MUCH KALE

apple

orange

 

tastes like rainy fruity dirt. kale is a harsh ingredient. 

 

its nice though. 

[The Monkey]

What are the good reliable fruit smoothie recipe books/sites out there?  I'm looking for something that focuses on healthy (of course), but which also provides some info about calories, nutrition, etc.  Obviously, one can add it all up oneself, but that's a pain in the ass.  A lot of the recipes I find online basically are glorified milkshakes. 

 

Vicki, what protein powder are you using?

[deepak]

I know nothing of Vitamix. We got an Oster because of the all-metal-drive thing, and because it's much cheaper than a Vitamix. It works fine at six years old.

We tend to keep lots of frozen fruit around. Today's smoothie:

Pineapple chunks, one banana, mango slices, strawberries, and raspberries (all frozen)

Equal parts Tropicana OJ and So Nice vanilla soy milk

A splash of cream

A dollop of vanilla yogurt

It was a hit with the one kid in my house who likes smoothies. I thought it was very good too, though if I made it again I'd go with either a fresh banana or just half a frozen one.

That sounds good.

 

3/4 Indian mango (the ones from the Caribbean are mediocre)

4 strawberries

2 slices pineapple roughly 1/2" thick

10 or so grapes

Tropicana OJ

Ice

 

I'm trying to find a substitute for the OJ since it's the highest in calories of the ingredients. But that drink a couple of hours after lunch (sitting in the fridge) just does it.

[boomana]

I'm using Publix brand vanilla. I was using a bunch of expensive ones I'd buy at Whole Foods (Vega, Raw, etc.), but for my purposes and amount (one scoop a day, maybe two as part of a smoothie), I think cheap and tasty is fine.

[tyrion]

Never used peanut butter in mine so I can't vouch for that.

 

I've never had to remove the blade assembly. 95% of the time we just put in 4 cups of water, a few drops of dish liquid, and ramp it up to high and let it run for a while, then rinse. Every now and again we give it a good scrub with a sponge. After almost two years of ownership and almost daily uses, this has been enough.

This^^^^.

[jp11801]

My go to smoothie is

1/3 bag of whole foods frozen mangos

1 bag of organic frozen berries (expensive but worth it)

2 tablespoons bee pollen

1/2 bunch of kale or full bunch spinach

1 medium piece of ginger and turmeric

[jp11801]

Oh and my vitamix is 4+ years old and was bought used. I just rinse after use and wash it once a week in the dishwasher

Edited July 15, 2013 by jp11801

[shellylh]

I remember putting ice in the garbage disposal when we had one growing up to kind of "clean it out." I would imagine small chunks/slivers of ice would be able to scrape off some of the remaining residue (perhaps along with some dish soap), then wash normally.

Or maybe it wouldn't, but I'm interested to know what would work, for some reason.

**BRENT**

Good idea.  

 

I also read that you should either clean it out with bleach/water or vinegar/water solution once a month (on high for 30-60s).   This seems like a good idea.  I have recently gotten into cleaning with vinegar and washing fruit with vinegar, it's great.  

[Dusty Chalk]

Vinegar is teh awsum for cleaning, that's what I'll use.  I buy it by the CostCo-sized two-fer thingy.  You can never get all the soap taste out of your teapot/water pitcher/carafe/blender/what-have-you, but with vinegar it's no big.

 

Bee pollen?  What does that do?  (That's actually two questions -- what does that do to the taste, and what does that do for you in terms of health benefits -- is it one of those all-encompassing good things?)

[shellylh]

The Vitamix is no longer virgin. 

 

2 carrots

8 cherries

1/2 nectarine

1 campari tomato

1 leaf of kale

a few dashes of Sriracha

1 little water to thin it

 

Tim tasted it and said yuck and then afterwards said that he had trouble not gagging towards the end.  I guess that means he didn't like it.  I thought it tasted quite healthy. 

 

[cetoole]

The ninja v. kale, frozen blueberries, and water.  Chewy.

 

[postjack]

The Vitamix is no longer virgin. 

 

2 carrots

8 cherries

1/2 nectarine

1 campari tomato

1 leaf of kale

a few dashes of Sriracha

1 little water to thin it

 

Tim tasted it and said yuck and then afterwards said that he had trouble not gagging towards the end.  I guess that means he didn't like it.  I thought it tasted quite healthy. 

 

 

I think you need a little more sweet fruit. A nice fuji apple always does the trick, I put an apple in just about everything.

 

The sriacha was a little daring. Ginger adds a nice spice that might be more pleasing to the palate.

 

Don't be afraid to put more water to make the smoothie thinner or more drinkable. I always put a fairly significant amount of water in my green smoothies so I can down them quicker.